Pokémon: Erosion
by Just Jorts
Summary: After the disappearance of Cyrus, a former Galactic employee took control before a power vacuum consumed the company. He rebranded them as Team Tectonic, a company hoping to stop natural disasters before they started. With more casualties than ever, Search and Rescue companies accept their help, but what secrets are kept behind the benevolent facade of Team Tectonic?


Chapter One: Continental Drift

Harsh computer lights reflected off of a pair of smudged glasses. The sound of a mechanical keyboard's monotonous clicking filled the room, accompanied by the sounds of muffled music played from once-busted and now-repaired headphones.

A woman sat in front of the computer, her fingers flitting over her backlit keyboard. The clock on the bottom right of the screen read 3:15 AM, a time she became quite adjusted to. The beauty of a meticulously-programmed keyboard pattern could never be appropriately admired in broad daylight, after all.

Lines of code stretched across the screen, glaring garish colors of red and yellow to highlight the commands. That's how she knew they worked, if they didn't light up, it wasn't operating properly.

Her second monitor displayed the monotonous floor plan of what appeared to be some sort of building, either a hotel, college dorm, or office complex. Occasionally, her eyes would flip over to this map, noting the position of doors, windows, and hallways.

And, like all self-proclaimed computer experts, she had a third screen, this one braizened with articles about the emergency response team stationed in Jubilife. Certain parts of articles were highlighted, small notes written next to them, such "informant" and "critical piece". The monitor vaguely resembled the corkboards in detective movies, with red lines criss-crossing between the texts and photos.

Under her feet lay a large luxray, draped lovingly over her right foot with its head resting against her left one. Soft purrs emanated from the creature, stirring a yawn from the woman. Maybe, she thought, it was close to being bedtime.

"Neoma," the door behind her opened, flooding the room with fluorescent light from the hallway, "what're you doing awake?"

A man of average height and muscular build stepped in, donning a lab coat festooned with leather accents and a small patch resembling a 'T'. His gloves reached his elbows, and his coat reached his ankles. It was clear he wasn't someone to be messed with, except Neoma had already begun to ignore that notion.

"The research you assigned to me." She spun around, slipping her headphones off of her ears. "You know, the ones with those pesky Jubilife kids and their relatives, plus that amazing hacking project you oh-so-lovingly assigned to me," she snarkily jested, raising an eyebrow.

The luxray raised its head, glaring daggers at the man. Neoma raised a foot, petting its head through her sock. "Great job, Velfrie, you woke up Polaris."

"My name is Velfren, you know that," he sighed and rolled his eyes. "This place is a mess, it's a wonder you're able to breathe in here." He shot a glare back at the luxray, who responded by licking its jowls.

"It's not a mess, it's a creative expression." She picked up a half-finished bag of chips, grabbing a single chip between her fingers and delicately biting down on it.

She instantly reeled at the texture, throwing the bag in the trash and scraping her tongue with her fingers. Polaris stood up and stuck her face in the can, muzzle barely small enough to investigate the new item.

"I won't be surprised if I find you dead in here." Velfren shook his head, picking up a few stray napkins. "Your room breeds bacteria, it disgusts me."

"Well, good thing it's my room and not yours, then we'd have a problem." She leaned back in her chair, looking him over from head to toe. "I like the new hair dye, it doesn't look like a streak of shit anymore. A hint of purple does wonders for the soul, maybe it'll calm yours."

He visibly recoiled, hands tensing into fists. "That's not what I'm here about, stop being an imbecile for a single second. I could easily remove you from this project and find someone else suitable for your position."

"Velfie, we both know you could never do that, I have far too much skill for any old hacker to replace. I mean, ex-Galactic, ex-Anon, I'm everything you'd want and need wrapped up in one neat package." She eyed him over her glasses, a sickening smirk beneath. "Do I need to remind you of what I've done? Has the trauma gotten to your brain, Velfie?"

"Show me the damn plans, Neoma, or I'll personally destroy your databases."

"That's funny, acting like you know where those are." She chuckled, swiping her hand over the leftmost screen, the one containing the red-string collage. "I've gotten the general feel of what you want me to do, but some of these things are quite an interesting feat. For example, where are we getting these pokémon from? They need to know fire type moves, plus we'd need at least thirty of them with average power, I'd be surprised if anyone could fulfill these requirements."

"I have my sources." He leaned over her shoulder, pointing at the red-tinted spider web criss-crossing sections of articles and social media posts. "Who are these people?"

"Our competition," she stated, picking up another chip from another bag. "If we want to make our mark as a rescue company, we gotta beat these fools, and they're the cream of the crop." She waved her hand upwards, bringing up an image of a woman with muted red hair tied up in a bun. "Kira Tanaka, one of their newest, if six-plus years on the job counts as new. She's in charge of all those building planning things, like those signs that tell you how many people can be in an area. Her and her brother investigate gyms, training areas, pokémon centers, anywhere that has a shitton of people."

Velfren's eyes narrowed, looking at the woman in the pictures. She was wearing the standard Jubilife City Fire Department uniform, the only modification being a patch reading 'Sinnohan Urban Search and Rescue'.

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Her and her brother responded to this huge fire a while back. Something about apartment complexes, she apparently ran back in and saved a bunch of people despite her higher-ups saying no. She got an award for that, and she also got one for her ability to stabilize and triage a bunch of people at this huge pileup on the highway." Neoma swiped her hand over the screen once more, dismissing the images. "Plus, her boyfriend's a gym leader. One of the ones leading the Regi research you talked about."

"Would she know anything about it?"

"Probably not, even though they've been together for quite a while. I know they had quite a few scandals back when they went public, solely because people thought she was doing it for fame." Neoma paused, scanning over the evidence. "I hacked her cloud too, looked for anything that had mention of Regis. I got nothing, except a few mentions of a guy up in Snowpoint her brother's going after. The guy studies them, but isn't involved in anything serious. He's not an issue, in fact I'm sure he knows next to nothing."

"Keep an eye on her and everything around her, she's the direct link we require. We'll utilize her eventually." His attention shifted to the middle screen. According to the counter on the side, there were about 30,000 lines. "What's all this about?"

"It's the program you wanted me to code. I used an old base model I had before, and added a bit in. It'll tell you the areas at most-risk and how to properly react and, promptly, contain." She switched to another tab, scrolling through the lines of code. "This here is the programming for the vests, it'll deactivate this," she opened a third tab, "when all the conditions are met."

"How long did this take you?" He asked, looking at the intricate lines of letters and symbols. "And how long will the testing period be?"

"In total, two or so months. When you called me down and gave me the briefing, I started it. I just kept showing you junk projects whenever you showed up, it's a lot more impressive when I show you these gorgeous gals when they're close to being completed." Neoma grinned, waving her hand over the screen and inadvertently dismissing the lines of code.

She looked back at her screens, watching her animated background. "It should take, like, a week or so to test it. I just need a willing participant, and an area you're willing to burn."

"I can arrange that." Velfren pushed his wire-framed glasses higher, looking to the side. "If we want our exhibition to be perfect, we also must be perfect."

"Well, the trial runs for the vests should take a week. If we add the pokémon into the mix, it'll add at least two more weeks. They're not the most receptive, especially these fire types." She opened a new coding screen, the cursor blinking at line one. "I know you want it soon, but without some 'authorization', I'm sad to say it'll take another two months, based on my previous experiences in pokémon training."

"What type of authorization do you require?" He questioned, watching as she typed out the starting line.

"The authorization to endanger the welfare of pokémon." She kept her eyes on the screen, fingers fluttering over the keyboard. "I could engineer a device that keeps them in line so that it wouldn't require formal training." Her gaze shifted back to Velfren, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Anything you need for our mission, you are authorized to obtain or perform," he stated, watching as her face lit up with excitement.

"Anything?" She spun back around, pointing at her luxray. "So, if Ris needs her vaccines and a nice new cat-bed, I can use the company credit card?" The pokémon in question raised its head, a chip bag hanging off the end of its snout.

"If that helps you complete your tasks, then I'll allow it."

"Good, because I was going to do that anyways." With the kick of her foot, she was spinning around in her chair, staring at the ceiling. "Anything else you want from me?"

"Have you figured out the weaknesses of the building yet?" He tapped his finger on the third and rightmost monitor, Neoma's eyes widening in offense. "I see you've at least been attempting to formulate a plan of entry."

She slowly worked her hand between his finger and the screen, noting that she had to scrub the once-pristine display after he'd left. "Yeah, the problem is that these places are designed to keep people safe. It's not easy just waltzing in, and it's even harder to get out, especially if the building's already on fire. That's just an added challenge that'll take extra brain-power to plan around."

"That's why I'm providing them with protective gear, obviously." Velfren pulled out his phone, a look of lofty superiority on his face. "I've gotten that all covered prior, your intel is nothing new to me. Provide me with something I hadn't known before, you've been assigned this portion of the research for ages."

"Alright, sure, it's not new. But do you have mental maps of all four of these buildings?" She stood from her chair, crossing her arms as she faced him. "Do you know the vents to shut down, the doorways to blockade, and the points of entry? Can you, with those weasley fingers of yours, shut down all of these previous efforts to complete _your _mission of becoming heroes in the eyes of the public?" She locked eyes with him, a tight frown across her features. "You don't have those maps, you don't know those locations, and you definitely can't accomplish that. If you're going to be an ass to me, you can leave. I know you can't get rid of me."

"I can very well do as I please, and I won't have some greasy street hacker compromising the company I worked for ages to build." He stepped closer, straightening his posture and returning the sinister gaze. "You are nothing more than the computers you slave over."

"You didn't do jack shit to build this company, you built it on the remains of Galactic. Cyrus fucked off to god-knows-where, and you had the oh-so-smart idea of stealing all his men and manipulating the company's purpose. You're nothing more than a child hanging onto the coattails of their parents." She pointed at the computer, frustration flashing across her features. "And, without me, those programs wouldn't exist, and you'd be months behind and struggling to meet deadlines. You're lucky I even agreed to your batshit plan in the first place."

"You didn't have a choice. Without me, you would be locked in federal prison wishing I had saved your soul from eternal damnation. You would never be able to see that precious girlfriend of yours ever again, and you'd be stuck in your own personal hellscape of maximum security prison." He adjusted his posture, squaring his shoulders. "Face it. Without me, you're nothing, you're-"

"Without Cyrus, you'd be nothing," she interjected. "Tectonic would cease to exist, and you'd have no way of avenging those precious kids of yours."

"Never _fucking_ mention my daughters, you asinine bitch!" He grabbed the keyboard from the table, gripping it in his hand. "Their names won't be tarnished by the voice of a good-for-nothing criminal like you." He brought his arm down, the keyboard splintering over the desk. Keys broke off and clattered against the linoleum floors, landing anywhere that wasn't covered in cluttered garbage..

Polaris, who had been watching Velfren carefully from the side, padded closer with fur raised and teeth bared. Its eyes flashed red as it crept closer to the man, tail lashing around its feet in anger. Neoma calmly placed a hand between its ears, signalling for it to momentarily stand down.

"You're not much better than me, Velfrie," she sneered, "after all, you're equally as guilty for the actions of Tectonic, _our _company, as I am." She stepped on the splintered remains of a key, the plastic crumpling under her shoe. "If you want to be your fucked-up version of a hero, I'm the only person qualified to be your sidekick."

"I didn't hire you to spit metaphors at me." Velfren turned on his heels, opening the door with planned-out motions. "Get back to work, I want this prototype ready to be tested in two days." The door slammed behind him, punctuating the silence.

"Goddamn asshole, fucking up my one good keyboard." Neoma mumbled, opening a drawer and pulling out a small, dusty keyboard. Placing it on the desk, she blew the dust off of it, squinting when the lights flickered back on. "You'll just have to do for now, until I can use his credit card information again."

Disgruntled, she began typing once more, finding solace in the all-encompassing silence. If there was no Velfren, there was no arguments, and she could be on her merry way, fulfilling the seemingly closer deadline he'd given her.

Looking at both the coding and mechanical engineering she had yet to perfect, she wasn't all too confident in meeting his requested date. She pondered sending the engineering construct off to a subordinate, which would definitely make her own life easier. Plugging in a written code and testing it was far easier than building the actual structure at the same time, but Velfren might get upset about outsourcing the work.

She sent a quick email to her favorite lackey. There was no way she was about to stay up even later for a project she was only doing for the sweet, sweet paycheck.

Perhaps she also did it for that wonderful mayhem that Velfren authorized.

Oh, and the comparatively legitimate reason of needing to stay out of jail, avoid the authorities, and someday, maybe, seeing her girlfriend again.

She hadn't seen her since Galactic fell, and it got quite lonely being in a room with only pokémon and a computer. Besides, the main cleaner of the house was definitely not Neoma, so her current spaces largely went unkept. It wasn't easy keeping herself _and_ her room clean.

The computer's clock read four A.M., a time she rarely saw outside of work. At least she had a bed in the room so that she could rest without leaving.

It was precisely how she wanted to spend her nights, slaving away on her desktop until ungodly hours of the night and promptly taking her break on a solid sheet of foam. Perfect for safety and economy, horrible for her posture and sanity.

After flopping down onto her bed, Neoma pulled a thin sheet over her body, resting her head down on the concrete pillow. Polaris jumped next to her, curling up between her and the wall. The luxray became a space heater on these cold nights, but could never replace the warmth of another human being.

It was times like these that she realized just how lonely she really felt.

Her eyes closed as she stared off at the glowing keyboard, the only light source left in the rather dark room. She would have to wake up early tomorrow, or else she wouldn't get the royalty of sleeping the next night.

Sometimes she wondered why she even stayed here. It had its benefits, but it was definitely comparable to the prisons she evaded. The only plus was the detailed letter T on her uniform, replacing the G from before. Nothing had really changed, she simply had been passed around bosses.

Oh, how boring her life as a criminal was.

As she succumbed to the tendrils of sleep, the continual machine that was Team Tectonic persisted in its ticking, the unfortunate night workers scuttling around the many floors. Tectonic was a beating heart, with Velfren being the muscle tissues. Neoma was the pulse, the electrical spark coursing through those layers of muscle and tissue. The grunts were the blood, and they were mainly replaceable.

What was a heart without the pulse?

Dead.

What was Tectonic without Neoma?

Just as dead as the unbeating heart was, motionless and unbeating without the electricity coursing through its tissues.

She slept well knowing this, for her job was secured as long as Velfren required it.

After all, he'd be dead without her.


End file.
